Of Unshed Tears and Shattered Souls
by iChocoLove
Summary: When broken girl moved to Mineral Town to get away from her dark past, surprisingly, little by little, a certain sour blacksmith pieces together her heart to make it whole once more. Discontinued, but another HM fic will be up soon! -coughs-
1. A Wonderful Beginning?

**Hey! :D**

**This is my first fanfic. I hope you enjoy it! :D**

Chapter one – A wonderful beginning?

_Briiiiiiiiiing!_

Groaning, 18 year old Claire rolled over and slammed her hand down on the alarm clock. Being a total grump as usual, she thought, _why won't the clock give me some more sleep?! I need it, dammit!_ As Claire got dressed, she sighed.

"Uuuugh, this is so boring! I need something new in my life, or else I'm going to turn into a madman. No wait. Make that woman," she grumbled as she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair.

Sitting at the table, she picked up the newspaper and flipped through it. Same old, same old. All these stupid ads, trying to trick the poor people into buying their crap. In the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of color. Reading intently, she grinned slowly, grabbed the phone and began to dial.

A couple days later, Claire stood on the beach of Mineral Town after descending the ferry. _Woah, the sky here is so blue for some reason! Man, and I thought it was supposed to be grey! At least, that's what it's like in the city …_

"Ma'am, can I help you?"

Claire blinked, and then turned around. In front of her was an old man with a white beard and extremely long eyebrows. She raised an eyebrow, thinking about how difficult it must be for him to see with those bizarre eyebrows.

"Ummm… Ma'am?"

Snapping out of her reverie, she quickly apologized, "Ah, s-sorry! I was just daydreaming!"

"Oh, that's quite alright. When I was your age, I used to do that quite a bit too."

"Ummm … o-okay."

"Ah, sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Barley, and you are …?"

"C-Claire."

"Ah, so you're the one who bought that dump – I mean, farm! Haha! Here, I'll show you the way there …" Barley chuckled.

Claire frowned. "Is there something wrong with the farm, then?"

"N-no! Of course not! Let's go and see it now!"

"Um, o-okay."

"Errr, so this is it?" Claire asked.

"Well, yes. Isn't it a beauty?" Barley asked hopefully.

"N-I mean, yes. Now, can you leave me alone, please, before I bash you with this hammer?" Claire smiled sweetly, while retrieving a heavy looking hammer.

"Ah, y-yes…" Barley eyed the hammer, then swiftly rushed out of the farm as fast as his old legs would carry him.

Sitting down on a rock, Claire sighed. _I'm so stupid to even think that the farm could be as good as the ad says! Didn't I have the experience from ads not telling the truth?!_

As Claire was feeling more and more depressed, a portly man dressed in completely red peered at the sad Claire. _Depending on her sad face, I'm sure that's another potential buyer down the drain,_ thought the man sadly.

"Excuse me?" said a high pitched, squeaky voice, interrupting Claire's thoughts.

Startled, she fell down from the rock. "Ouch! What do you want?" She said rudely.

"Eep! I'm uuuh … the town's mayor! Mayor Thomas!" said the man hurriedly.

Claire noticed the mayor's frightened expression, so she pulled on the most flirtatious smile that she could do. "I'm Claire, how can I help you?"

Thomas, surprised at her sudden mood swing, thought, _Now that she smiles, I can see that she's actually quite pretty! Heeeyyy … come to think of it, she doesn't seem that sad at all! She seems quite happy! _(**AN:** You can see that Thomas isn't a very observant person. xD)

"Heh, I see you found the farm! I guess you fell for the ad then … Ahahahah!" Thomas chuckled.

Suddenly, he stopped. He noticed that the corner of Claire's smile was twitching, and she was reaching into her bag. Curious, he stared at what she was dragging out of her backpack – it was a shiny, big and **heavy **looking hammer – not a good sign.

"I'm supposing you're the one who sold me this DUMP then?" Claire asked in a sickly sweet tone.

"Dump?! Now, see here - "

_Boom._

"Get … away … from … me. Now."

"Look, I know the farm isn't the best - "

"Isn't the best?! That's a tad of an understatement."

"- but you can still make it into a good one." the mayor said hopefully.

"Well, since I've already quit my job, and I have no where to go, I might as well." Claire sighed.

"What, really?! That's AWESOME!" Thomas proceeded to explain how the farm worked, and where everything was.

"Okay, that should be everything, now I have to go and SPREAD the news! Bye now!" said Thomas excitedly as he skipped off.

Claire stared after him. _What an odd man. I wonder what the other people are like … are they like him?!_ Claire shuddered. _I hope not! That'd be just plain weird._

"Hey."

That was the third time that day that Claire had been interrupted in her thinking. Sighing, she looked up … to see the tallest man she's ever seen in her life.

"I'm supposing you're the new farmer, Claire? I'm Zack," he said in his gruff voice.

"Yea."

"Thomas said you're going to take the farm, so I have to teach you how to ship, see this …"

"… and I pay you for it. Got it?"

Claire frowned. _All the people here so far seem to talk way too much. I hope that not everyone is like that! That's going to be even worse than in the city. _

"Yea. Sure. Whatever."

"Okay, good. I'm going to go now, don't forget to not overwork yourself!" Zack said with a hint of a smile before he left.

Claire stood up and stretched. _Might as well start meeting the people in town. I don't feel like tackling this miserable field quite yet. Hopefully, there'll be people my age who aren't total creeps …_

As she walked out of her farm and turned right, she saw a house that said **Blacksmith **on it. Claire pushed open the door and walked straight in.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong with it!"

"Of course there is! Open your eyes, boy!"

"Fine, there is. Then tell me what's wrong with it, hmmm?"

"I can't tell you. The answer is in your heart."

"Yea, you can't tell me 'cause there's NOTHING WRONG WITH IT!"

"Ummm … e-excuse me?"

The two men turned around. One was an old man looking unnaturally calm for someone who was just in a fight. The other was a young man with striking blue eyes and a blue cap that says UMA. He, on the other hand, looked livid, and ready to strike someone flat. However, he was extremely good-looking, which was something that the old man was not.

"What do you want?! If you don't want anyth - OUCH! What'd you hit me for?!" the younger yelled.

"Gray! Don't be rude to a customer! Apologize!"

"S-sorry." Gray said without looking at Claire in the eye.

"Naw, it's alright. Ummm, I guess I should leave then …" Claire turned and ran out of the store.

_Wow, I guess the people here really ARE psycho. Are ANY people here normal?!_

"Hey, wait!"

Claire twitched, recognizing the Gray's voice.

"What do you want?" she said icily, turning around to face him.

Gray turned red with embarrassment, and said, "Look, I'm really sorry about that. My grandpa, Saibara, is always so hard on me … he's never happy with whatever I do! I'm seriously considering quitting now … it's not like I'll ever get better anyways …" Gray moodily stared off into the distance.

Claire softened. "Gray, maybe you should just train more! I'm sure that's the problem …"

"… Are you saying that I don't try hard enough?!"

"Wha … What?! I'm just trying to help here! Geezus, if you don't value my opinion, then just don't come complaining and running for help!" With that, Claire stalked off, leaving a fuming Gray behind.

_Honestly, what's wrong with that guy?! I was just trying to help …_ Claire sniffled, not really paying attention to where she was walking. She had to stop soon, in order to avoid walking into a pole.

Claire glanced up and saw a tall building. _Might as well meet some more people here … _Sighing, she pushed open the door and stepped in without so much as checking if there were any obstacles in front of her … and was met with a crash into someone.

Behind the Blacksmith's door, Gray was still feeling extremely irritated. _I actually went to apologize to her, and she just shoved an insult in my face! What kind of person is she?!_ Gray returned to work, furiously pounding his fury into each swing. It resulted into his hurting himself badly again.

"GRAY!"

Gray sighed irritably.

**Haha, Claire's such a grump. xD Don't worry – She won't be that grumpy later on, I promise! D:**

**Review please! :D I'll love you forever!**

**Claire: Love is a strong word.**

**Me: Shut up, you! D**


	2. Cliff ?

**Yay! Chapter two's up! :D**

**DD: I forgot to put up the disclaimer on the last one. Xx Don't kill me ! I'm too young to diiieeeee … -fades off into distance-**

**Claire: Oo;; KitKat does not own anything. **

Chapter two – Cliff …?

"Gah! OhmygoshI'msosorry!" Claire rushed out with her eyes still shut against the impact.

"Wha …?" A deep male voice whispered.

"I'm … So… Sorry." Claire opened her sapphire eyes and glanced up, to be met with a pair of gorgeous brown eyes. Claire felt her jaw drop, then quickly shut it again. The man she had just collided with was absolutely gorgeous. He had brown hair with golden tips, large brown eyes, and was dressed in completely brown clothes with a fur trim. Not a single thing was out of place.

"Ah … Ummm … bye!" The man half-ran out of the building. Claire shook her head. She walked into the inn (at least, she supposed that it was the inn, considering that that's what the beaten up piece of wood outside said) and was confronted by a fiery red haired girl.

"Hey! I don't think I've ever seen you here before! I'm Ann. That person behind the counter there is my dad, Doug. What's your name?" Ann said, smiling warmly.

"It's Claire." Claire smiled, thinking that she's made at least one friend here. "Hey, by the way, who's that guy that I kinda ran into there?"

"Eh? Oh, that's Cliff. Why?" Claire thought Ann had a suspicious tone, but it could've been just her imagination.

"Oh! Well … I thought I might try to know more people…"

"Of course!" If Ann did have any suspicions about Claire, there was no trace of any left. "Hey, since it's your first time here, why don't I get something for you to eat? It's on the house."

"Wha …? No, I can't possibly let you do that …"

"No, really, it's okay! DAD! Give her your special, will you?" Ann winked at her dad, and Doug grinned in understanding.

"Coming up! Be ready to experience the best food you've ever tasted in your life."

Claire sighed and gave a small smile of defeat. "Alright, but only this time, okay? It makes me feel bad when I don't pay …"

Ann gave a fake pout. "Okay, fine, have it your way! Ah, see, it's here!"

Doug set a huge plate of steaming food in front of her, staring at her expectantly. As the pleasant smell of the food came floating up to her, her stomach growled un-expectedly. Claire took a hungry bite out of the food. Claire's eyes widened slightly as she took another greedy bite out of it.

"Hey, this is really good! How do you make it?!" Claire asked through a mouthful of food.

"That, darling, is a secret." Doug winked.

"Awww!" Claire pouted. When she finished the last of her food, she stood up.

"Thanks so much for the food! I'd better get going; I have so many more people to meet."

"Come back anytime!"

Claire exited the inn and pulled out her map of the town. She traced her finger along the top side of the map and abruptly stopped when she saw the miniscule words _Library_. _I guess I'll go here next then!_

The blonde farmer walked on the red cobblestone street towards the library, meeting many of the older citizens of the town. She offered a few polite words to each, then continued to hurry on her way. Once she shut the door to the library behind her, she gave a sigh of relief. Talking to older people was never one of her stronger points.

"Hi, how can I help you?" A shy voice asked.

Claire looked up and looked for the source of the voice. It didn't take too long, as the person was right in front of her.

The voice came from a girl around Claire's age with raven black hair pulled back in a single braid and round glasses. She was wearing a set of ordinary school girl clothes.

"Hey, I'm Claire, nice to meet you. Are you the librarian here?"

"Yes, that's me. I'm Mary." Mary gave a timid smile.

"Say, do you know any good books I can read …"

Even with Mary's shyness and Claire's grumpiness, the two of them became fast friends. In the middle of complex conversation about a thick sounding book, Gray walked in, looking extremely grumpy and sporting several bandages on his hands. As he looked up and his gaze traveled to Claire, his expression transformed from moody to shock.

"What're _you _doing here?!" Gray asked rudely.

"I could very well ask you the same thing, Mr. Thinks he knows everything."

"Well, I actually happen to come here everyday for a little peace, and I don't need _you_ destroying that little peace I can get!"

"What do you mean, me destroying your peace?! It's you who's killing mine!"

"I'm not –"

"First, I try to help and _you_ spaz out at me –"

"What do you mean me spazzing out at you?! It was you who insulted me in the first place-"

"Then, you have to walk in the door and destroy my otherwise perfect day –"

"What do you mean?! I'm just looking for some peace and –"

"YOU GUYS!" Mary screamed. Claire and Gray turned around at looked at her.

"Okay, now that I have both of you two's attention, I have something to say."

"Continue …"

"Okay. Don't you guys think that it's just a misunderstanding? I mean, from what I heard, Claire seems to have tried to help Gray, but Gray took it the wrong way and got pissed off. Is that correct?"

The said two looked at each other, then turned away, embarrassed.

"Sorry …" Gray muttered, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes.

"All is forgiven." Claire grinned suddenly. "As long as you realize you're wrong."

"What?! …but…ah, whatever." Gray said, unwilling to start another fight.

"Now leave me in peace to write my book, or I might possibly take on my evil side and be forced to rip your throats out." Mary smiled innocently.

"Yes, ma'am!" Claire and Gray said in unison.

After a couple minutes of silence, Claire was squirming in her seat because of the quiet. She was born in the city after all, and is more used to loud, noisy places where people had to scream instead of talk.

"Mary?"

"Yes?"

"Am I allowed to talk?"

Mary sighed. "Fine, but quietly, okay?"

"Yes, Mary!" Claire said happily.

Claire skipped over to where Gray had been trying to shrink back to hide from her gaze.

"Hi Gray!"

"…" _Aw, dang it! I was totally sure my super awesome disguise would hide me from her! … Not._

"What cha doin'?"

"…"

"Well, you were doing something right? Are you reading something?"

"..."

"Okay, you're holding a book, so I'll just automatically suppose you're reading. What're reading then? Oh my gosh! I've read that book before! It's so good …"

"Eh?! You read?!" Gray exclaimed, breaking out of his silent spree.

"You know Gray, I'll just take that as a compliment on my awesome reading skills."

"Do whatever you want, it's not my problem."

"Anyways, what do you think of the book?"

"It's pretty good, I guess. The writing style's … interesting."

Claire pulled an extremely exaggerated shocked face. "That must've been the longest thing you've ever said this conversation!"

"I would say more if you would say something worthwhile to reply to."

"Oh my god! That's even longer then the last time you said something!"

"…"

"Aw, c'mon, don't go into that again!"

"…"

"Please, Gray?"

"…"

"Pretty please?"

"…"

"Pretty please with a cherry on top?"

"I don't like cherries."

"Fine, with _baked corn_ on top?"

"Does that matter?"

"Uhhh … sure!"

"…"

"Oh dang. You're going back into that, aren't you?"

"…"

"Gray, at least TRY to talk to Claire!" Mary called from the other side of the room.

"Fine, but only because you two are ganging up on me."

"Yes! Thanks Mary!"

"Anytime, Claire."

"Sooooo … How's work at the blacksmith's going?"

"I still get yelled at, I guess."

"Like I said, just keep trying! There's no way you can't improve if you keep trying."

"Yea, I still try. 'Course I do! I would've quit by now if I didn't continue trying …"

"See! You won't be yelled at anymore sooner or later. Anyways, I think you're awesome already."

"Yea … Thanks, Claire." Gray gave a tentative smile with a small blush spreading across his cheeks.

"No way."

"Huh?"

"You just said thanks! To top that, you smiled …"

"…"

"Hey, by the way, you look really cute when you blush." Claire said teasingly.

"Eh?!" Gray's faint blush turned a darker shade.

Claire checked her watch. It read 3 o'clock. "Ack, I'd better get going! Bye guys!" she said, while rushing towards the doorway.

**Mary's POV**

I liked Claire, I honestly did. However, I can't help but feel un-easy when she talked to Gray.

I've had a crush on the blacksmith's apprentice for a while already. I wasn't sure if he liked me back or not, but when Claire came, I just had a feeling she might get in the way. Especially when she started talking to Gray, I could tell the two of them enjoyed each other's company, even though Gray didn't talk all that much.

And that blush. What was going on between them? They can't possibly like each other, can they…? No, that's not possible. It's Claire's first day here. Things like that don't happen in real life … can they?

I don't know why I helped Claire get Gray to talk to her. Maybe it's because at the bottom of my heart I still don't let myself believe I fell for someone.

**End POV**

Once outside, Claire checked her map once again. _Ick, I'll hold off the visit to the doctor's for now; I don't want to get a checkup the first day I get here! Supermarket: naw. I'll go when I decide to buy seeds ..._ She traced the map down the road to the very end, where the same miniscule words read _Church_. The blonde farmer headed towards her new destination.

Upon entering the church, Claire immediately felt a peaceful atmosphere. _Woah … That's … to say at the very least, amazing …_

She walked up to an older man whom she supposed was the priest and introduced herself for the umpteenth time that day.

"Welcome to Mineral town, Claire. My name is Carter." The priest said, smiling.

"Nice to meet you, sir."

"Please, don't call me sir. Carter will be just fine."

"Okay, Carter!"

"Ah, Claire? Can you do me a favor?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"Do you see that boy over there?"

Claire turned around to try and find where Carter's eyes were pointing at. She used to eyes to follow the line towards … Cliff. Cliff's eyes were downcast, and he did look rather depressed.

"Yes…"

"Can you talk to him, please? He's rather shy, and I'm worried about him. He just recently moved here, just like you. He's a sweet boy; I'd like to see him open up a bit more."

"Yes, of course!" Claire cautiously made her way towards the brown-haired boy. "Hi, my name's Claire. Yours is Cliff, right …?"

"Yea…"

_Don't tell me there's another Gray in this town …_

"A-Ah, is there s-something on my f-face …?" Cliff asked worriedly.

"Huh?! No…"

"A-Ah … o-okay … Gah, I-I'm nervous, I c-can't talk …"

"Cliff. Relax. Breathe, okay?" _Woah, this guy really has social problems …_

Cliff took a deep breath, and smiled. "Thanks, Claire. I feel better now."

The two chatted for a while, and Carter glanced over at them every now and then with a smile on his face. He could see Cliff gradually relaxing more as he talked with Claire.

When Claire left the church, she checked her watch once again. _Oh, shit. When did that Zack person say he came to pick up shipments? 5 or something … And it's 4 right now. Gotta run!_

Claire ran as fast as she could towards her farm. _Oh no, what the hell am I going to ship?!_ As she arrived at her farm, she noticed one of the few things that were still growing in that deserted farm. There was a tree to her right; as she neared it, she saw a beehive. _Sweet! Now I can get free honey everyday!_ She took her honey for the day and put it into the shipment box. _Err… Not a lot, but it's a start!_

Trying to avoid Zack's criticism, she walked into the forest behind her farm. The small, narrow path broke into a fork. Claire took the one to the right, and arrived at a small pond. The farmer sat down and sighed. She saw a flower she never saw before in the city, and she pulled it out of the ground. She inspected it for a while, taking in every little detail the small flower could offer. She lost interest soon, and threw it into the pond.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash. Claire instinctively closed her eyes, then after a couple seconds, tentatively opened them again. She started, shocked at the sight in front of her.

There was a woman who was floating on top of the water. She was incredibly beautiful, with gorgeous teal locks in two buns on both sides of her head and two strands hanging loose. She had a perfect face: it was just like a perfectly crafted porcelain doll. No one else could have such a beautiful face.

"Ah, Claire! Hello."

"H-how did you know my n-name?"

"Well, I'm the Harvest Goddess, so of course I would know everyone's name!"

"W-wait, Harvest G-goddess?"

"Yes, of course!"

"A-aren't you supposed to b-be a … n-nevermind …"

"Alright then! By the way, I really liked that last offering. Bye now!" With that, with another blindingly bright light, the Harvest Goddess disappeared.

Claire didn't move one inch from the spot she last was, staring wide-eyed at the spot where the Goddess had been a mere second ago. Shakily, she stood up, still in shock from what she had seen. She slowly walked back towards her farm, her mind still frozen from the shock she just had.

By then, Zack was already gone, so she slowly let the Harvest Goddess escape from her mind and let her breathing slow down. She let herself into her puny house to explore every nook and cranny just for the fun of it, as she still didn't familiarize herself with her new home.

"Woooah, what's this? A tool box?!"

"That's … a miniature bed …"

"What!? No kitchen OR bathroom?!"

"Eh?" She spotted a corner of a small photo sticking out of her hastily packed suitcase. Claire pulled it out and instinctively blew the dust off of it, in result, getting a speck of dust into her eye.

After several painful seconds of trying to get the miniature pest out of her eye, she stared at the photo intensely with a now red eye and one normal eye, trying to remember when she got the picture. She recognized of few of the figures in the photo – There was her, her parents, her brother, Jack, a boy her age (at the time) who she did not recognize, a smiling girl with her hand on his shoulder, and two adults.

Claire supposed that the girl was the boy's sister, and the adults were his parents. The female farmer leaned closer towards the photo, racking her brains, desperately trying to remember the young boy. _He looks like someone I know … _She frowned, her eyebrows furrowing deeper into her forehead. She gave a close inspection on the boy – he had brown hair, a smiling yet shy face, and had huge warm brown eyes.

The blonde leaned back, massaging her forehead, still racking her brain in effort to remember him. _Brown hair, brown eyes … Where have I seen that before …?_ Suddenly, her eyes snapped open.

"Oh my god …" She whispered. "Cliff …?"

**How was it? :D **

**Claire: Awful. **

**Me: DD: -dies-**

**Gray: Waah! Review, and KitKat will come to life again? :D**

**KitKat: By the way, I'm a slow updater. D: Bare (Right bare/bear? Yes? No? :D) with me!**


	3. Tackling Weeds and Angry Chickens

**Thank you, my lovely reviewers! :D**

**We'll be having a couple more new people show up in this chapter. :D**

**Disclaimer: I own a brain and a computer. I don't Harvest Moon or any other game. D: I wish I did though.**

**On with the story!**

Chapter three – Tackling Weeds and Angry Chickens

In the wee hours of morning, one could hear lots of rattling sounds, curses, and poundings inside the farm of Mineral Town. Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a determined looking Claire, with her blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail, wearing a pair of pink overalls, looking ready to tackle World War 3.

… Or maybe some weeds that were in serious need of 'pulling-ups.'

Claire grasped a weed firmly and pulled lightly on it.

Nothing happened.

She pulled on it with all her strength.

Nothing happened.

"STUPID PLANT!" Claire yelled, tugging on it furiously. Suddenly, the plant let go of its precious soil, causing Claire to tumble over. By now, Claire was practically fuming from anger.

"Goddess … There HAS to be an easier way!" She mumbled, searching through the tools she had randomly stuffed in her backpack that morning. The farmer pulled out a crescent shaped tool, staring at it. "What is _this_ supposed to do?!" she said, talking to herself. The clueless girl stuck the blade into the soil, as if it was going to do something on its own.

"That's not how you use it," a gruff voice said, its owner pulling the sickle out of the soil. Claire looked up, searching for the source of the voice. Surprisingly, it was Gray, looking grumpy as usual.

Claire took a deep breath. "Well then. How do you use it, blacksmith?"

"I'd appreciate it if you'd call me Gray."

"Right … Gray. Hey, why are you here anyways?"

"Saibara made me. Didn't want you breaking your tools the first time you used them. Of course, stabbing a sickle into the ground isn't going to break it, but if you don't know how to use it, it could be rather serious." Gray suddenly grinned.

Claire rolled her eyes. "I've never used it before, okay?! Tell me, _Gray_, how do you use it?"

"Well, since you insist, I will tell you. It's quite simple, really. All you do is swing it through the weed. You can use it to cut crops too, but I don't know why you would do that." Gray proceeded to explain the uses of the other tools while Claire tried to look interested and failing terribly.

"…and you should take the hoe and the hammer if you want to go mining." Gray finished with a flourish, looking not in the least out of breath after his huge lecture.

Claire took a deep breath. "O-okay …"

Gray grinned. "I'll be leaving now. I hope you know how to use your tools now!" he said, knowing clearly that she was hardly listening when he was talking.

Claire gulped. "Y-yes sir!" She watched Gray leave the farm to make sure she wouldn't do something embarrassing, then she glared at the nearest weed.

"Alright, green thing-y, you'd better watch out, 'cause Claire's going to GET YOU!" The wanna-be farmer sliced the weed with the sickle. Actually, she _tried_ to slice it. All she succeeded in doing was cutting off the tips of a couple leaves.

"You cheater, you moved!" Claire yelled, swinging the sickle again and again. When she finally hit the right place, the weed came out of the ground. She stared at the spot, surprised. She then brought the blade towards herself to inspect it.

"Woooow …" She said in awe. Suddenly, she grinned and starting running around, cutting weeds all around her like a maniac.

When the sun was high in the sky, Claire collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily. _I'm going to die from exhaustion! _"Need … some kind … of … potion …" she panted. Mustering up some of her last energy, she stood up and started robotically walking towards the Clinic.

Cautiously, Claire pushed the door to the clinic open after several torturing minutes of walking, and took a tentative step inside the almost scarily white building.

"Hi, are you tourist?" a pretty brown haired girl with warm brown eyes called out, smiling.

"No, I bought the farm on the other side of the town …" Claire half-whispered, feeling the need to talk quietly in this peaceful place.

"Welcome then! I hope you like it here." Elli gave a shy smile. "Is there something you need? A check-up, or anything else?"

"Err … I kinda needed something for my strength …" Claire fumbled for words, clearly at loss for the word in question.

"You mean stamina?" Elli giggled at Claire's expense.

Claire gave her a half-hearted glare, knowing fully well that her vocabulary in medical terms was horrible.

"Anyways, you can go see the doctor for the medicine. His office is that room there, you should find him inside," Elli indicated the room to her left.

After mumbling a quick thank you, Claire stumbled into the Doctor's room. A handsome black-haired man glanced up from his work, and suddenly his expression turned from curiosity to worry.

"You're so pale! Have you been over-working yourself?" Trent stood up, looking at her with concern, not even bothering to ask her her name.

Claire smiled weakly. "How'd you guess?"

The doctor gave a short laugh. "Let's just say it's part of my profession to be able to tell these things." He started rummaging through a cabinet of medicine, searching for the one out of a possible hundred. Trent pulled a bottle that looked like any of the other ones out and handed it to Claire.

"Drink it. It should help," the doctor said as Claire looked at it suspiciously. "I got it from the city. I don't think it's as useful as some of my other medicine, but might last longer." He looked at her hopefully.

Instead of being a ghostly white, Claire had taken on a slightly green-ish pallor. "It tastes _horrible_!" Claire resisted the urge to spit it back out, and hastily swallowed it.

"Err … yes, I suspected as much. But it helps, right?" Trent looked at the farmer with an expecting look.

"Yea …" Claire said hesitantly. In truth, she wasn't exactly sure herself. She was much more concerned about the horrible taste that still lingered in her mouth then whether her stamina was replenished or not.

"Is it really that bad?" the doctor looked amused instead of concerned now, surprisingly.

"Yes!" Claire blurted out as fast as she can, then snapped her mouth shut for fear that she would barf if she held it open too long.

Trent sighed. "I shouldn't give you this, considering I'm supposed to be a doctor and care about health, but you really don't look that good." He reached into a pocket of his long doctor's robe (jacket thinger) and took out a small piece of unknown substance and flicked it towards Claire.

The farmer caught it and stared at it apprehensively. _Goddess, is he trying to poison me or something?! This looks like some kind of unknown species of slime …_ She shivered visibly.

"It's not poisonous, you know." The doctor chuckled. "Can't judge a book by its cover. This actually tastes quite good, despite the excessive amount of fat and calories that are in it and the odd look it has. I think it should wash out that taste of the medicine."

"You only think?!" Claire stared in horror at the little piece of candy.

"You see, candy isn't my area of specialization."

"Still, you're a doctor."

"Does that matter?"

Claire gulped, still staring at the little piece of gross looking stuff she held in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she put the piece of candy in her mouth.

Her eyes lit up a bit. "It's really good!"

"Told you so!" the doctor chuckled. "Unfortunately, that little piece of candy isn't too healthy, and as the doctor of Mineral Town, I can't let you eat it too often. Speaking of Mineral Town, are you a tourist here?"

Claire sighed in frustration. "Everyone's asking me that! Actually, no, I'm not. I bought the farm on the other side of the town," she repeated.

"Ah, I should've known. The mayor's been spreading the news that someone's taken over the farm. He's extraordinarily happy about it. I think you might've made him live another couple years from that happiness."

"And I think I took those years off by _tapping_ a hammer onto his head," Claire admitted guiltily, staring down at the ground.

"Yes, I heard about that too," Trent said thoughtfully. "Although I can't really blame you for doing that – And one would've thought the mayor would've been rather supportive of honesty."

The farmer grimaced. "Well, now we know he's not. Or he is, but he doesn't do it himself." She said. "The hypocrite." Claire added under her breath.

Trent chuckled. "If you say so." He grinned, leaning back in a professional way, his hair falling over his eyes.

Claire bowed mockingly. "I should leave now. Thank you, doctor!" She grinned mischievously, backing out the door.

"Don't over work yourself!" he called, suddenly sitting straight up and professional again. "I don't think you want to try that medicine again, right?" Trent grinned.

Claire frowned, as if she still tasted the bitterness in her mouth. "Ew, no thanks!"

The farmer left the Clinic with a few polite words to Elli and started down the path towards the poultry farm. "I'm not overworking myself, no I'm not. I'm just merely getting a chicken so I can earn a bit more gold …" she muttered under her breath.

Suddenly, Claire was blasted back from a wind of white feathers. She put her hands up to her face, to be met with a huge feathery mass. Gripping it tightly, she pulled it off, and stared into the eyes of a big, angry, and _dangerous_ looking chicken. The farmer turned white and held it as far away from her as she could manage.

"Wah, I'm so sorry!" a girl bounced over. She had long unnaturally pink hair, red-ish eyes, and looked like she had excess energy left over in her. Claire lifted her eyebrow.

_Woooah, her hair … s'it a wig? It's … kinda scary …_ Claire thought, resisting the urge to reach over and prod the girl's hair.

"I don't know why, but she's rather angry today," she continued, referring to the chicken. "Anyways," the bubbly girl said, still bouncing up and down, "Are you the person who bought that farm who Thomas – I mean Mayor Thomas – was talking about? I think the entire town knows by now – I mean, it's a rather small town -"

"Woah," Claire interrupted, inching away from the girl, clearly rather creeped out by the other's bubbliness (**AN**: That's not a word, is it? xD). "Well …" she hesitated, "What should I do with this … chicken?"

"Ah, sorry! Just give her to me, I can take care of her!" she smiled, taking the chicken from Claire. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to my family and all." The girl giddily ran towards the farm, gesturing the farmer to follow her.

"By the way, my name's Popuri. Yours would be Claire, right?" Popuri asked when she was fumbling with the doorknob.

"Yea …"

"Wah!" Popuri had succeeded in opening the door and almost tumbled inside. Claire rolled her eyes, then stepped inside the house.

"Hello! My name's Lillia. I've never seen you around before -" a pink-haired lady called before she was interrupted by the energy-high Popuri.

"Mom, she's Claire. You know, the person who took over that farm next to ours?" she said, grinning.

"I see. Well, good luck with your farm!"

A long blonde haired boy with glasses stepped forward. "My name's Rick. Glad to meet you."

"Glad to meet you too!" Claire acknowledged Lillia and Rick's greetings. "Now that I'm here, is it okay if I buy a chicken and some chicken feed?"

After several minutes of complicated buying, confusing suggestions, and large amounts of numbers, Claire walked out of the farm, rather dazed. She closed her eyes, taking in the fresh air. The farmer opened her eyes, and saw someone she had least expected to see there, standing on the very path she stood on, in the very place where she now lived.

"Jack?!"

**How is it? :D**

**Thanks SunshineGirlx3, DevilishDuck and DemonPanther for reviewing! :D**

**Don't worry about the photo from the last chapter, it'll show up again later. ; )**

**Review please! :D –glomps-**


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